Can Sioux Falls find new-level Summit success?

Mar. 8, 2013

North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside, front, gets stormed by a group of fans after North Dakota State's 66-64 win over Oakland in an NCAA college basketball game in the Summit League men's tournament title matchup in Sioux Falls, S.D., Tuesday, March 10, 2009. Woodside scored 17 points. (AP Photo/Eric Landwehr) / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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2012: South Dakota State University's Nate Wolters (center) is embraced and surrounded by fans after they stormed the floor to celebrate their victory against Western Illinois during the 2012 Men's Summit League Basketball Championships on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D. (AP Photo, Jay Pickthorn/Argus Leader) / Jay Pickthorn - Argus Leader

crowd pleaser

Entering its fifth year in Sioux Falls, the Summit tournament has fared well at the Arena. Last year’s event was the highest-attended league tournament in history, drawing 40,290 total fans while setting a league record for women’s attendance at 17,867. A closer look:

The Summit League basketball tournament is lighting up Sioux Falls for a fifth straight year, with a fresh version served up with the inclusion of the University of South Dakota.

The four-day event at the Arena starts Saturday and concludes with men’s and women’s championship games on national television Tuesday, with the winners headed to the NCAA tournament. The Saturday night session – which includes both the South Dakota State and USD men playing in separate games – is sold out.

It’s another sign that this Division I hoop fest, brought here for the first time in 2009, has taken hold with basketball fans in South Dakota.

With a pair of tournament titles last year, the SDSU men and women lifted overall attendance at the event to more than 40,000. That topped the old record (also set by Sioux Falls) by more than 5,000 and exceeded the highest attendance for the tournament at any previous venue by 18,000.

“I remember the first year – the Sports Authority was on the line,” said Dana Dykhouse, chief executive officer of First Premier Bank, a major corporate sponsor for the tournament. “We were hoping against hope that SDSU would win one game. We feared if they didn’t, nobody would show up for the rest of the tournament and we’d end up taking it in the shorts.”

There’s no danger of that happening this year. The top-seeded South Dakota State men play No. 8 seed IUPUI in the first game Saturday night, with the seventh-seeded Coyote men facing No. 2 seed Western Illinois in an 8:30 game. As soon as it became apparent both schools would be playing on opening night, tickets went quickly. Semifinal and final sessions are also filling up fast.

“Any time you sell out for an opening-round game, you know there’s a lot of excitement,” said Sioux Falls Sports Authority director Wes Hall, who replaced the retired Mike Sullivan in January. “We’re on pace to break last year’s record. It will be interesting to see the final numbers.”

While long-term stability continues to be a concern for the Summit League, Sioux Falls’ status as a committed host is not. Last October, the Sports Authority and the league took an existing two-year agreement and made it a five-year deal, with a mutual option to extend it five years beyond that at the new events center.

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In other words, March is going to stay mad for quite a while around here.

“What I love about the Summit League tournament is that for at least a few days, ESPN and the rest of the nation pay special attention to Sioux Falls, and that’s thrilling,” Mayor Mike Huether said. “For a few days, South Dakotans pump out their chest and are really proud, and you see can see it and sense it.”

Reaching higher­

Summit League commissioner Tom Douple, who oversaw the inclusion of SDSU, North Dakota State and USD into the league, had previously helped negotiate only two-year deals for hosting the postseason tournament.

He and others, however, saw the corporate commitment, fan interest and volunteer support – as well as the 12,000-seat events center taking over in 2015 – and was encouraged to enhance the process with Sioux Falls.

“When you put it all together, it was a win-win,” Douple said. “Our job is to run a great tournament, and Sioux Falls has proved it can host quality Division I men’s and women’s events.”

The Sports Authority estimates the tournament brings in more than $2 million a year to the area, with the prospect – with the addition of USD this year and Omaha next year – for that number to increase.

Sullivan estimated the event brought in nearly $300,000 for the league in years past, with that number also headed higher with the addition of regional schools and increased revenue opportunities with a new, larger arena.

In addition to the potential for beefing up local interest in the tournament, USD’s first trip to the event represents an unprecedented opportunity for its basketball teams. It’s also a big moment for the Coyotes to get the word out to a Sioux Falls alumni base that they’re now a fully qualified Division I program.

“We’re finally eligible for the Big Dance,” said Torrey Sundall, president of the Howling Pack, USD’s athletic booster club. “It’s a neat atmosphere – I’ve gone to just about every game out there since it came to Sioux Falls, and I’d always be jealous that USD wasn’t in it yet.

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“It will be interesting to see who the SDSU fans root for in that second game on Saturday night. Yes, we’re the rival, but you have to figure a lot of them like the idea of us knocking off Western Illinois.”

The spectacular Summit League success of the SDSU women’s program – the Jacks have never lost a conference tournament game in their four years of eligibility – sparked interest in the tournament the first few years. The recent rise of the SDSU men’s program over the last two seasons has intensified that interest, hence the record numbers in 2012.

Where officials have been pleasantly surprised is in the number of basketball fans with no official affiliation who have embraced the Summit scene.

“We had a couple from Presho wondering about tickets this year,” Dykhouse said. “They had no affiliation with either school; they just wanted to see some good basketball. That’s what has happened with the tournament. Yes, you have a core group of fans for SDSU and you’ll have a core group for USD, but it has really attracted the interest of the casual fans, and that’s a big deal.”

Community effort

The Summit event has also attracted the interest of volunteers. Cheryl Dodd, a vice president at U.S. Bank who is on the Sports Authority board of directors, supervises a crew of more than 200 volunteers.

When Sports Authority officials visited other venues where league tournaments had been held in the past, they were told volunteers would be easy to find the first year, but that interest would peak early and decline sharply in coming years.

In Sioux Falls, the numbers have increased as the tournament has progressed.

“We have a lot of people involved who have a great love for the community,” Dodd said. “They’re attracted to the excitement of an event like this. I think there’s a great commitment to make sure the people who come to the city – not just the students and fans around here, but people who have never been here before – get a warm welcome.”

The events center will be ready for Summit action in 2015. The Sports Authority would like to make the new venue a candidate to become a regional first-round NCAA site for the men’s or, more likely initially, the women’s tournament. Dykhouse, who annually attends first-round regional games with friends, doesn’t see that as a far-fetched idea.

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“It would be the next step,” he said. “I can tell you that we would do a lot better job of hosting an event like that than some of the places I’ve been. With a new arena? I think we could really put on a great show.”

Five years ago the Summit tournament came to a state still wondering about Division I sports. The Summit League, in turn, was still wondering about Sioux Falls. People close to the city and to the sport will tell you the event has evolved into a well-regarded mid-major tournament that flatters both the competitions and its hosts. Many of them will also tell you that’s no accident.

“We have a state that has a great love for amateur sports,” said Dave Zimbeck, an associate general counsel for Citibank who serves on the board of directors for both the Sports Authority and USD’s Howling Pack.

“The atmosphere for college sports is like no other. Whether you’re talking about NCAA basketball or football, you have a lot of fans who are purists and athletes who are purists – at least 90 percent of them are out there for the love of game. That’s what amateur sports are all about, and I think that’s what South Dakota sports are all about.”